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Another thing that was lacking in the new graphics was the indication as to which drivers had crossed the start/finish line after the end of each part of qualifying – previously there would be a chequered-flag icon by the driver’s name.

IMO the main problem is not that the cars are different, but that the drivers (with the odd exception) drive for the same team throughout the season. This makes it very difficult to ascertain who the best drivers actually are (e.g. how much has Alonso been held back by Ferrari, how much did Ricciardo improve from 2013 to 2014?). Obviously there is the team-mate comparison, but this is of limited use given that a driver only has 1 team-mate, and a driver’s performance relative to their team-mate is determined as much by the team-mate as by the driver. Also, some teams give one driver preferential treatment, and others often use different race strategies for their drivers.

The best solution (which has been suggested in various forms before, possibly by me!) would involve something like the following:

21 drivers
20 cars (10 teams of 2)
21 races

Each driver competes in all bar one race, driving a different car in each race (with mid-season development being banned), with a different team-mate in each race (although this isn’t really necessary), everything being drawn at random. Obviously there are some issues with this, such as:

1. Deciding which drivers should compete – perhaps a promotion/relegation system with a series such as GP2?
2. Making it possible for viewers to identify both the driver and team – possibly using split liveries.
3. What happens if a driver is unable to compete in one or more races? Should a replacement driver (if there is one) be allowed to score Drivers’ Championship points?

Obviously there is a big ‘lottery’ effect here, but it does mean that if one driver runs away with the title, then it is (barring an extraordinary amount of luck) because he is the best driver, and similarly for the teams.

M Schumacher in Canada 1998 won despite a stop-go penalty for taking Frentzen out of the race.

Raikkonen in Japan 2005 had an engine change, although he was bizarrely not moved back on the grid as he qualified 17th ahead only of 3 drivers who did not set a time, and he was allowed to start ahead of them.

1. Only allow DRS to be used when the car is being affected by turbulent air from the car in front (i.e. the flap shuts as soon as the car is alongside the car in front) – this is really what the purpose of DRS is.

2. Possibly bring back single-lap qualifying – fewer tyres will be used, the top-10-start-on-same tyres rule can be abolished, and the smaller teams will get more exposure. Also, it will be low-fuel, unlike when we had it 2003-05. The running order could be determined by the finishing order in P3.

3. Enforce a budget cap, or alternatively decree that the amount that a team spends in excess of a certain limit is then deducted from their prize money (e.g. if the cap was £40m and the prize for finishing 1st in the Constructors’ Championship was £100m, then if the team spent £40m or less, they would receive £100m at the end of the season, but if they spent £50m, they would only receive £90m).

4. Don’t red-flag qualifying sessions or races just because it is raining, but perhaps stop the session if no drivers are going out onto the track. If this is not possible, adjust the tyres such that only one type of wet tyre is needed.

5. Something that would be a radical overhaul of F1 – have 20 races, 20 drivers, and 20 cars (10 teams with 2 cars each). Each driver drives each car in one race. This way, the Drivers’ Championship will give a measure of who is the best driver, and the Constructors’ Championship will give a measure of who is the best constructor. Obviously, there will be issues with this (such as the need for the livery of a car to be able to identify both the driver and the team).